The Keys to Designing Effective Corporate Marketing Programs

shutterstock_282757205Designing effective corporate marketing programs on your mind? Many focus on their business plan, but do not give adequate time and attention to the marketing plans necessary to make their business plan a reality. The following are four keys for designing effective corporate marketing programs.

Identify your customers

You should always begin by describing your target customers in detail. No marketing program is going to be effective unless you establish clearly who you are trying to reach. There are many potential customers in any market, but for clear, measurable success, identify the characteristics of your customers. You may want to consider having your customer database evaluated.

Understand your competition

If you’re in a rewarding business, others are working to take your customers away. Every minute of the day you are not marketing, someone else is. Too often, small businesses focus solely on what they can offer customers, without considering how their competition will respond. You must anticipate how your competitors will respond to any offerings in your marketing program like lower prices or other incentives.

Have focused insight about your own business

In addition to understanding your competition, you must also know what advantages your business offers to potential customers. You want to highlight how you are able to meet the needs of these customers better than your competitors.

Establish your brand position statement & protect your brand

You should write down a declarative statement that summarizes why you are better than the competition and how you will meet the needs of customers. The best brand-position statements clearly focus on the customer’s needs in a straightforward, easily understood manner. Protect your brand by working with a trusted provider that uses only your corporate-approved media and maintains an SOC compliant datacenter.

It is of utmost importance when designing these marketing programs to maintain a clear focus on your customers while being aware of what your competitors are doing. Your marketing plan can be as informal or formal as you wish, as long as it details who your target audience is, how you are going to persuade them, and what result you plan to achieve.